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Updated: Jun 26, 2025
Use of Autometallography to Localize and Semi-Quantify Silver in Cetacean Tissues
Published on: October 4, 2018
Total mercury concentrations in Steller sea lion bone: Variability among locations and elements
Mary Keenan1, Nicole Misarti2, Lara Horstmann3
1Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska, 1764 Tanana Loop, PO Box 75 5910, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA; College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska, 2150 Koyukuk Drive, PO Box 757220, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.
Abstract:
Mercury is a global contaminant that bioaccumulates in a tissue-specific manner in long-lived predators such as Steller sea lions (SSL). Bone is a well-preserved material amenable for studying millennial scale trends; however, little is known about the distribution and variability of total mercury concentrations ([THg]) within individual bones and among bone elements in SSL. We assessed SSL bone [THg] variability with respect to physiologic age, bone type, longitudinally within a bone, and among bone elements. Pup bones (mean ± SD; 31.4 ± 13.58 ppb) had greater [THg] than adults (7.9 ± 1.91 ppb). There were greater and more variable [THg] within individual long bones near epiphyses compared to mid-diaphysis. Pup spongy bone in ribs (62.7 ± 44.79 ppb) had greater [THg] than long bones (23.5 ± 8.83 ppb) and phalanges (19.6 ± 10.78 ppb). These differences are likely due to variability in bone composition, growth, and turnover rate. This study informs standardized sampling procedures for [THg] in bone to improve interpretations of mercury variability over time and space.
